Dumper driven over workman as he cleaned shuttering on site traffic route

Three contractors have been fined after a workman was injured when a dumper truck drove over his leg as he cleaned ‘shuttering’ on the Emirates Stadium project in June 2005. The injuries he sustained required subsequent amputation of his leg above the knee.

City of London Magistrate heard that the workman and the dumper were not properly segregated and that cleaning of shuttering was not properly planned and carried out safely.

The shuttering was being cleaned in an area where a dumper truck operated rather than in a safe area behind barriers

“Traffic needs to be managed effectively on all construction sites. Had proper controls been in place, this appalling incident would never have happened. As it is, Michael O’Donovan has suffered a severe injury and his life has been changed for ever.

At construction sites, workers and vehicles need to be separated wherever reasonably practicable. There was no demarcation between the route the dumper took and areas where people could work or were working on this site.

None of these three companies had carried out a meaningful assessment of the risk to workers of being struck by plant in general and the dumper in particular.”